Effects of a Brown Rice Vegetarian Diet and Outdoor Walking Exercise on Body Composition and Blood Lipid Parameters in Collegians

ABSTRACT

This study examined the effects of a brown rice vegetarian diet and outdoor walking exercise program on body composition and blood lipid parameters in collegians. The mean age of respondents was 21.8 yrs (males) and 21.7 yrs (females). During the ten-day program, the respondents lived in a dormitory and had three meals. The respondents exercised one hour in the morning (620~720 am) and attended one and a half hour evening lecture (700~830 pm) everyday. The brown rice vegetarian diet consisted of brown rice, whole grain bread, beans, fresh vegetables, and fresh fruits contained 2043.2+/-112.7 kcal (97.3% of RNI), 66.7 g protein (133.3% of RNI), 33.6 g dietary fiber (168.2% of RNI), vitamin A (194.2% of RNI), vitamin B1 (245.5% of RNI), vitamin B2 (225.1% of RNI), niacin (233.7% of RNI), vitamin B6 (277.1% of RNI), folic acid (128.4% of RNI), vitamin C (334.6% of RNI), iron (131.9% of RNI), zinc (112.4% of RNI) and calcium (60.3% of RNI). The results showed that there were significant increases in body weight (P<0.05) and BMI (P<0.05) in males and body weight (P<0.05) and lean body mass (P<0.01) in females. In addition, there were significant decreases in total cholesterol (P<0.001), LDL cholesterol (P<0.001), TG (P<0.05), and HDL-cholesterol (P<0.001) in males and total cholesterol (P<0.01) and LDL-cholesterol (P<0.01) in female. The ten day brown rice vegetarian diet rich in fiber and outdoor walking exercise program significantly increased body weight and decreased total cholesterol and LDL-cholesterol in collegians.